Nothing is permanent. Everything is subject to change. Being is always becoming.

The ultimate source of a happy life is warm-heartedness. This means extending to others the kind of concern we have for ourselves.

When you walk in the mist, you get wet.

If I had any position, I would thereby have a flaw. But since I have no position, I alone am without flaw.

Letting go gives us freedom, and freedom is the only condition for happiness.

This is the real secret of life -- to be completely engaged with what you are doing in the here and now. And instead of calling it work, realize it is play.

There is no path to happiness: happiness is the path.

The root of all suffering is ignorance. The antidote to ignorance is wisdom that realizes emptiness.

The way to overcome anger is to be too busy being kind to have time to be angry.

In my youth I studied, in my prime I practiced, now all my doubts are cleared.

The Buddha's teaching is a middle way between all extremes, between eternalism and annihilationism, between self-indulgence and self-torture.

Just as a snake sheds its skin, we must shed our past over and over again.

Every day, think as you wake up, today I am fortunate to be alive, I have a precious human life, I am not going to waste it.

The Dhamma is not a collection of doctrinal formulas but a path leading to direct insight into the nature of reality.

The grass is greener where you water it.

The practice of mindfulness is simple: whatever you experience, you observe and note it.

The perfect moment is this one, not the one you're waiting for.

When we develop patience, we find that we develop a reserve of calm and tranquility.

Real peace comes from seeing things as they really are, not as we want them to be.

The Buddha's teaching is a teaching of self-reliance, of being one's own master, one's own refuge.

Peace in oneself, peace in the world.

When you talk, you are only repeating what you already know. But if you listen, you may learn something new.

Only when you can be extremely pliable and soft can you be extremely hard and strong.

The mind is like a well-forged sword - it adapts to all situations.

The Dhamma unfolds in accordance with a definite sequence: faith, virtue, learning, generosity, wisdom, and insight.

The everyday practice is simply to develop complete acceptance and openness to all situations and emotions.

The purpose of life is to be happy, to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate. It is not to be well known, cited, or powerful.

Every step on the path must be with the understanding of anicca - impermanence. This is the essence of the teaching.

Whatever is dependently co-arisen, that is explained to be emptiness. That, being a dependent designation, is itself the middle way.

To think in terms of either pessimism or optimism oversimplifies the truth. The problem is to see reality as it is.

The technique of self-observation is the technique of observing the reality about oneself at the experiential level.

Wisdom and compassion must be developed equally and harmoniously.

Zen does not confuse spirituality with thinking about God while one is peeling potatoes. Zen spirituality is just to peel the potatoes.